4-star junior Brandon Gardner updates recruitment
Brandon Gardner was born and raised in Waynesboro, Georgia, right outside Augusta. Once Gardner entered high school, he transferred to Gray Collegiate Academy in Columbia, South Carolina, where he spent both of freshman and sophomore year. Before his junior year started, Gardner announced he would be transferring to Word of God Christian, located in Raleigh.
In the meantime, Garner emerged as a high-major recruit and has racked in over 20 scholarship offers, including the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Georgetown, LSU, Kansas, and plenty of others.
“Nobody in my hometown has ever gone D1,” Gardner said over a phone call on Wednesday night.
Well, Brandon Gardner is on track to becoming the first. The 6-foot-7 forward is ranked as the No. 56 overall prospect in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
Gardner already has several visits under his belt
Despite only being a junior, Gardner is taking the recruitment process seriously, as he has already seen six college campuses, with two more already scheduled.
He’s taken unofficial visits to Georgetown, Wake Forest, Maryland, Georgia, and South Carolina. His lone official visit was to LSU but has two more officials scheduled for February – Auburn on Feb. 1st and St. John’s on Feb. 7-9th.
Gardner wants to re-visit Georgetown
Gardner enjoyed all of his visits, but one unofficial trip to Georgetown seemed to stand out, and he says he wants to go back for a second visit.
“I’m definitely going back,” Gardner said. “A player like me, I feel like I could change the whole program around, if I can get a point guard to go with me, and a good wing.”
Speaking of Georgetown’s coaching staff, Gardner says, “We have a great relationship. They love me, they love my mom. Coach (Patrick) Ewing and coach (Robert) Kirby even came to my crib once.”
LSU received the first official visit
Depending on the situation, you can sometimes tell which schools are prioritizing certain players, and LSU did just that as the Tigers received Gardner’s first official visit.
Why did Gardner visit LSU first?
“Because of the coaches, the communication part, we talk all the time,” Gardner explained. “They love my game and they came to my practices twice. They just came after me the hardest so we had to visit them officially. I feel like they’re top tier like you gotta visit LSU. Who wouldn’t want to visit LSU?”
When I brought up recent LSU commit Marvel Allen’s name, Gardner immediately said, “That’s my boy,” but mentioned they haven’t spoken since Allen’s commitment because Gardner’s Instagram account has been deactivated.
Gardner previews upcoming Auburn and St. John’s visit
Next week, Gardner will take his second official visit to Auburn, as the Tigers will take on rival Alabama. He spoke to On3 about what he likes about Auburn.
“(Auburn) gets up and down the floor,” Gardner said. “They just got hoopers. Auburn is like a hoop city to me. I don’t even know how to explain it, but it just looks good, just watching them on TV. I feel like I could fit in at that program.”
It’s no secret Auburn’s head coach Bruce Pearl is extremely well-liked in most circles. Gardner shared a funny story from this past summer when Pearl watched one of his games.
“All he was doing was smiling at me during the layup line, and I was like ‘oh, snap!’ and then next thing I know, I get on Twitter and I saw that he retweeted my tweet, I had posted a mixtape, and he had retweeted it! So I’m like ‘sheesh, that’s crazy. He’s really cool.”
The week after the Auburn visit, Brandon Gardner will trip to New York for his third official visit to see St. John’s.
“My mom likes how they play,” Gardner said. “My boy AJ Storr just committed there.”
Future visits?
After his trips to Auburn and St. John’s, Gardner doesn’t have any other visits scheduled.
However, he hopes to visit both Ole Miss and Memphis officially before the start of the AAU season.
Several schools keeping in contact
With his recruitment still open, and plenty of schools in the mix, Gardner is still hearing from quite a few schools on a consistent basis.
LSU, Arkansas (interest), Ole Miss, Memphis, Georgetown, Auburn, NC State, Alabama, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, and Kansas are all keeping in contact with the four-star prospect.
A decision is not too far off
Gardner says he would like to make a decision after the AAU season, which concludes by late July.
He may not know where he’s going yet, but he does know what he’s looking for. “Great academics, great coaching staff, a brotherhood, and a point guard.”
Simple enough, right?